Can you ever have enough electrical outlets in your home office? Perhaps – if you had a hand in designing their layout when your house was built. But for those of us who weren’t even born when our homes were built, deciding which devices get powered – and where it will happen – can be a never-ending balancing act; ensuring that the devices which are plugged into the walls are protected from power surges only adds to the fun. We’ve covered other Belkin surge protectors here in the past, including the Clamp-On and the Concealed; now we’ll take a look at the Compact Surge Protector.

According to the Belkin site, “It’s neat, compact, and powerful. Belkin’s Compact Surge Protector safeguards your electronics, computers, and appliances-and stays out of the way. It sits on the floor, against a wall, under a desk, or behind your couch. Unused outlets stay clean and safe with sliding covers. Designed to be inconspicuous, the Compact Surge Protector keeps your cords tidy with integrated cable management.”

Glorified power-strip? Or is there really anything special to this thing? Let’s take a look…

Measuring approximately 10.5″ long x 3.5″ tall x 4.0″ across the base, the Compact Surge Protector has a total of eight outlets, and the 1.8mm power cable is six feet long. The box says that the protector offers 3195 joules of surge protection, and it comes with Belkin’s $200,000 “Connected Equipment Warranty.”

Four of the outlets are BlockSpace sized, which means that they will accommodate even the largest and most oddly-sized AC plugs.

All of the outlets, including the four on top have sliding locks to keep out children’s fingers, dust, debris, or other objects; these plastic protectors easily slide over and click into place to conceal what would otherwise be exposed prong holes. On the end opposite the power cable there are three RJ11 ports to also protect phone, fax, or modem lines from power surges.

The base of the surge protector has two screw holes so that the strip can be mounted on a wall vertically or horizontally, in addition to being placed flat on a floor or desktop.

The end with the power cable has two LEDs, the red one will glow to indicate if there is a ground-wiring problem in the user’s home which an electrician will need to tend to, and the green LED will glow to indicate that surge protection is working. If the green LED ever isn’t glowing, it will mean that the “Surge Protector was sacrificed to protect your equipment and should be replaced. Please contact Belkin Corporation for a free replacement Surge Protector in this case” -emphasis added by me. There is an on and off switch above the power cable, and a plastic cord management bracket is attached to the cable to keep everything tidy.

Due to its narrow size, the Compact Surge protector can fit just about anywhere including behind a couch, under a desk…pretty much anywhere that space is a premium and extra outlets are needed. Add to its built-in features Belkin’s excellent warranty, and you’ll see that the Compact Surge Protector is one well designed, space saving, and power-connecting solution.

The BelkinCompact Surge Protector is available directly from the manufacturer, as well as other retailers.MSRP: $44.99What I Like: Small size; can accept four oversized plugs; holds eight plugs total; built-in cord management; LED status indicators; plastic sliding plug covers; great warrantyWhat Needs Improvement: Nothing, I really like it.

I've had a fascination with all types of gadgets and gizmos since I was a child, beginning with the toy robot that my grandmother gave my brother - which I promptly "relieved him of" in 1973. I'm a self-confessed gadget magpie. I can't tell you how everything works, but I'm known world-wide for using a product until I have a full understanding of what it does, what its limitations are, and if it excels in any given area ... or not.

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Four of the outlets are BlockSpace sized, which means that they will accommodate even the largest and most oddly-sized AC plugs.

I’d like to contest that statement. 😉

I got one of the iHome iPod clocks that Julie reviewed last year, and the wall wart for that thing would not fit in the “transformer-spaced” outlets of the APC surge protector that I was using at the time. So not all transformer-sized outlets are, in fact, transformer-spaced. Fortunately, the surge protector I bought to replace that one due to age (also an APC) has transformer-sized outlets large enough to accommodate the transformer on the clock.